From Fear to Fearlessness by Pema Chodron

I've reviewed another work by Pema Chodron, so I won't repeat the basic ideas here. But once again, she treats her readers to a heavy dose of traditional Tibetan Buddhism, served up with the modern Western sensibility that makes it accessible listening.

Here is an example from From Fear to Fearlessness.

When I was a schoolteacher, and when I was raising my own children, it always struck me that at 9:00 in the morning, one child would come crying to you that all the other children were teasing them. You comfort the child, and then at 10:00 in the morning that child has joined a group of kids that are teasing another child. You can point it out but they just don't seem to get it, that just in the morning they were in that position of the one that they are now taunting.
But of course, this is not limited to children. If we think of this we can think of a lot of stories: usually about other people.

It's a funny little parable, and it's also fun to imagine her as a mother and schoolteacher before she became "Ani" (Sister) Pema. But you have to listen carefully, because this is not simply a little morality play about how chldren and grownups ought to just all get along. The real point she is making is that, in general, we don't have the ability to look at the world from the perspective of another person. Other people's joy is not our joy; other people's suffering is not our suffering; and although our rational minds should be able to bridge that gap and understand that their joy and suffering is fundamentally like ours, we don't generally work that way.

So this is really about self-awareness. By presenting the teachings on "The Three Lords of Materialism," Ani Pema gives us a lens through which we can view the ways our minds cling to temporary attachments. And by teaching meditation techniques to develop "The Four Limitless Ones," she gives us practical advice on how to escape from the traps and find something higher and better.


From Fear to Fearlessness by Pema Chödrön I've reviewed another work by Pema Chodron, so I won't repeat the basic ideas here. But once again, she treats her readers to a heavy dose of traditional Tibetan Buddhism, served up with the modern Western sensibility that makes it accessible listening. Here is an example from From Fear to Fearlessness. When I was a schoolteacher, and when I was raising my own children, it always struck me that at 9:00 in the morning, one child would come crying to you that all the other children were teasing them. You comfort the child, and then at 10:00 in the morning that child has joined a group of kids that are teasing another child. You can point it out but they just don't seem to get it, that just in the morning they were in that position of the one that they are now taunting. But of course, this is not limited to children. If we think of this we can think of a lot of stories: usually about other people. It's a funny little parable, and it's also fun to imagine her as a mother and schoolteacher before she became "Ani" (Sister) Pema. But you have to listen carefully, because this is not simply a little morality play about how chldren and grownups ought to just all get along. The real point she is making is that, in general, we don't have the ability to look at the world from the perspective of another person. Other people's joy is not our joy; other people's suffering is not our suffering; and although our rational minds should be able to bridge that gap and understand that their joy and suffering is fundamentally like ours, we don't generally work that way. So this is really about self-awareness. By presenting the teachings on "The Three Lords of Materialism," Ani Pema gives us a lens through which we can view the ways our minds cling to temporary attachments. And by teaching meditation techniques to develop "The Four Limitless Ones," she gives us practical advice on how to escape from the traps and find something higher and better.
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